During the past week the “Grouchy Bear” that lives in my house insisted that this cool weather was reason to experiment in the kitchen. “Make some cookies and take the chill out of the air,” was his constant whine.
It has been very cool for this time of year, and I do admit there were a few mornings when the air was cool and I enjoyed taking advantage of that for some cooking.
It was nice, however, to be able to turn on the oven a few times and not be driven out by the heat. Such was the case with the tuna loaf.
Tuna loaf
1⁄4 cup finely chopped onion
1 1⁄2 cup heavy cream or evaporated milk
3⁄4 cup water
1 1⁄2 cups grated cheese
2 1⁄2 tablespoons butter
1 1⁄4 cup soft bread crumbs
1 can tuna
1⁄4 cup finely cut pimento (optional)
1 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
3 cups cooked and drained macaroni
Combine milk, water, cheese and butter, heat to boiling. Simmer and stir until cheese melts. Remove from heat and mix in crumbs, onion, pimento, tuna, salt and pepper. Stir macaroni and lightly beaten eggs into tuna mixture. Turn into greased 9 x 5 a 2 inch loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 1 1⁄2 hours or until firm. Turn out and cut into slices to serve. Top with creamed peas.
Fruit pizza
Purchased roll of sugar cookie dough
8 ounces cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Orange marmalade (or any fruit flavor)
Any combination of fruit
Slice and flatten dough on pizza pan and bake at 350 for 10 minutes; cool. Mix cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Spread on crust and add slices of fruit. Just before serving, drizzle with marmalade. (Marmalade can be thinned with a little water if desired.
Fast and easy meat loaf
1 pound lean ground beef
6 finely crushed soda crackers
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1⁄4 teaspoon pepper
1⁄4 cup chopped celery
1 beaten egg
1 small chopped onion
3⁄4 teaspoon salt
1⁄4 cup chopped green pepper
1⁄2 cup catsup
Mix all ingredients and spoon into casserole dish. Cook in microwave, uncovered for 6 minutes, turning dish at 2-minute intervals. Cook an additional five minutes. Since I am not a microwave fan I put mine in the oven at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes. When meat seemed done I allowed it to cool for a while before serving.
One tip I found in an Amish cookbook really was good. I purchased a 2-inch thick slice of ham.
Mix together 1 teaspoon dry mustard, 4 tablespoons brown sugar.
Place the ham in a casserole dish, spread the mix of mustard and brown sugar over the top. Add enough milk to barely cover hame and bake at 325 degrees for about an hour.
A great side dish with the meatloaf is baked buttered sweet potatoes. These can be microwaved, pierced and buttered. Add a bowl of green beans mixed with cream of mushroom soup and placed in the oven for baking along with the meat loaf.
See you next week.
